Exemplary embodiments of the present general inventive concept relate generally to the field of a portable receptacle for holding food or water and more specifically to foldable liquid retaining bowl.
There are times when a pet owner needs to be able to let his or her pet drink water while in locations other than his or her home. To this end, there is a need for a portable bowl that can be deployed when needed for the above said purpose. Other occasions for needing a foldable bowl include human applications such as needing to use a bowl or cup shape to drink water or other liquid while away from home.
Others have thought of and proposed solutions for a folding bowl, such as Daniel C. Henecke in his U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,087, now in the public domain, where a dish like receptacle is formed of a pliable sheet of material and is inflated to form a bowl shape. Another example of prior art is Paul Jones's U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,244 which discloses a portable foldable leak-proof bowl whose sides fold down towards the base of the bowl forming a relatively flat circular shape in the stored position.
However, there is a deficiency in the prior technology in that the solutions proposed require relatively expensive materials and methods of fabrication causing the resulting bowls to be expensive enough that they cannot be used as a single use, disposable item. Additionally, although the bowls do fold into a relatively flat format for storage and transport, they are not small enough to be easily carried in one's pocket or purse. Finally, the prior technology does not lend itself to be easily recycled and therefore are not ecologically friendly.